According to the will of several EU countries, wild animals such as tigers or crocodiles could no longer be kept as pets.
The background is concerns about animal, species and health protection, as can be seen from a paper by Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Malta.
The countries presented the initiative on Tuesday at a meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
The German department head Cem Özdemir (Greens) welcomed the project on behalf of the government.
Specifically, it is proposed to introduce a so-called positive list.
Any animal that is not on this list would then no longer be allowed to be kept privately in the EU.
The proposal does not state which animals should be on this list.
"It is well documented that the trade in exotic species poses one of the greatest threats to biodiversity," the four countries wrote in their letter.
Many captive wild animals have previously been in the wild.
The animals' afflictions included stress, boredom, depression and serious behavioral problems such as self-mutilation.
In addition, the four EU countries refer to a study by the UN Environment Program, according to which numerous animals died during capture or transport.
In the case of the gray parrots, which are popular in animal husbandry, two-thirds would die in captivity.
There is also an increased risk of disease transmission from animals to humans.